The crowd screamed in horror at the sight of guitar strings extruding from the arm of a masked teenager.
"What is that?!"
"Am I hallucinating? Did you see that too?!"
The crowd began to question their senses while also trying to keep space between them and the 'criminal'.
"Do not fear, citizens!" one of the Deputies barked. "These terrorists thrive on chaos. Will you surrender your peace to their tricks?!" The Deputy's words made the confusion and fear stop for a second.
This Deputy was short and stocky, with muscles for days. His low buzz cut was covered by a black cap that contrasted against his lighter skin tone.
The crowd looked at each other, murmuring to themselves.
A few of them gazed at the billboards above which read 'Do Not Fear, The Correctional Forces Are Here'.
"Yeah!" The crowd exploded into a frenzy of excitement. Their anger was reignited, but this time at the three 'terrorists' that were halted by the deputies.
Chase looked around, confused at the sight.
"Why are they so angry at us?!" Amora asked, just as confused.
"The regime has it engraved into their heads that any opposition is terrorism. To them, there's no better way of living because they haven't seen another option." Slim explained, fixing his gaiter over his nose.
"What do we do then-" Chase was sideswiped with what felt like the force of a semi truck, tumbling into an alleyway nearby.
"You two, section off the street. Make sure everyone clears the area!" That same stocky Deputy stood where Chase was standing just moments ago.
"Chase?!" Amora called for her love, but no one answered. She looked around, trying to find him.
The other two deputies brought out yellow police fencing, sectioning off the audience of civilians. The audience obediently walked back, cheering the deputies on all the while.
"My name is Deputy 0073, but my friends call me Sev. My two friends here are Tine and Ocho. You can trust us to take down these terrorists, don't worry!" The short Deputy standing where Chase was, Sev, raised his arms up as the crowd erupted into cheer. "Now, time to get started." Sev rolled up his sleeves and made his way into the alleyway he punted Chase into.
Tine and Ocho were both brown-skinned, with long black hair. Tine had tied her hair into a ponytail to keep it out of the way of her glasses while Ocho left his hair hanging down. The two seemed to be siblings of some kind, with both of them being lanky and tall in stature.
Chase sat up, touching his nose. "Yep, definitely broken."
As soon as Sev walked deep enough into the alleyway to leave the field of view of the civilian audience, he began to levitate.
His feet left the ground with what seemed to be minimal effort, with small gusts of wind whispering beneath him.
"Cute trick. But why bother with nicknames? They're just numbers wearing Halloween masks." Chase chuckled, standing up and dusting himself off.
"It makes the public trust us more. Like we're superheroes." Sev smirked.
Chase gritted his teeth at the mention of superheroes. "You're not a hero! Don't ever call yourself that!" he exclaimed.
"Well, I'll be something close when I bring your head to the Officer." Sev lifted himself into the air effortlessly, twisting himself like a missile towards Chase.
The blue haired boy whipped out two pistols from his waistline he had prepared before the mission started.
He started shooting without hesitation, bullets flying past Sev like lead rain.
The Deputy quickly darted behind a trashcan, taking cover for the time being.
"Is floating your only ability, one trick pony?" Chase taunted Sev while he reloaded both guns simultaneously.
"What was that?"
"Were those gunshots?!"
The once rallied crowd turned into a hysteric mess, running in every direction away from the fight.
"Shit. Who would've thought these terrorists would have firearms?" Tine asked Ocho, who shrugged in return.
"Amora, we've gotta do something." Slim said. He was trying to wait for her mark, but she was still soaking in the situation.
"S-sorry. I… I-I'll back you up." Amora stuttered over her words, getting behind Slim.
The blonde boy sighed in response, "Just hold on."
The two vibrated into invisibility, shocking the two Deputies they were facing.
"W-what the fuck?! What are they feeding these kids?!" Ocho asked his sister.
The two looked around, trying to find any sign of movement.
After a few moments of silence, Tine spoke.
"Spirit, 3 O'clock!" Tine looked to her brother, holding her glasses steady.
Ocho's foot began to glow purple. He swept it forward in a circle, catching Slim's feet.
The blonde boy immediately became visible, now thrown into the air by the leg sweep.
Ocho continued his momentum, twisting 360 degrees and kicking the airborne Slim in the chest.
The kick threw Slim through the air, knocking Amora who was right behind him.
The two went flying, tumbling onto the ground and stopping a few feet from each other.
"How do you like my sister's eyes? None of your tricks can get past her!" Ocho exclaimed.
Slim began to worry. What he thought would be a quick retrieval mission was now turning into a public fiasco.
"It's just like Akilah." Amora muttered.
"And how do you defeat Akilah?" Slim pressed, keeping his eyes locked on Tine.
Amora went silent. "I… I-I don't know."
In the alleyway, Sev peeked around the corner of the trashcan, where he could see Chase concentrating Spirit into his rounds.
Sev made a chopping motion with his hand, sending a strong gust of wind towards his opponent's feet.
Chase fell flat on his face, bending his already broken nose into an even more contorted shape.
"Fuck dude!" Chase exclaimed, wiping his nose with his sleeve.
"So his Mode must be wind, not flight." Chase caught on.
"I got something for you, you terrorist!" Sev flew over the trashcan, sending two more gusts of wind from his hands.
Chase dodged them, not thinking much of it, "His attacks just push you around. This guy's pretty weak!" Chase grinned. Then, he noticed something.
Sev had been taking in one breath this whole time, his cheeks ballooning as his chest puffed.
"Alright, time to end this." Chase raised his guns towards the Deputy's direction, firing one round at his head.
Before the bullet could reach Sev, he exhaled powerfully, seemingly activating his Mode while doing so.
Chase watched in shock as the bullet he had just fired reversed, flying above Chase's head.
In mere moments, Chase was blown against the wall at the end of the alleyway. He realized those small gusts of wind were just distractions so he could charge up his real attack.
Sev's breath continued.
Chase couldn't breathe.
He lost grip of his guns, letting them fly to separate ends of the alleyway.
The wind didn't stop. Seconds stretched into an eternity.
"I can't breathe. My vision's getting blurry." Chase repeated in his mind.
Back at the compound:
Molly sat on her bed with her head in her hands.
"Why does it have to be this way?" Molly asked herself. She knew the logical answer, but that's not what she wanted to hear.
She remembers the answer Jason gave her when they first brought up the idea of missions.
"When we first started doing missions, it was mostly adults going on 'em. Only the genius kids tagged along if at all. But, the mission that killed Manny left most of our people injured and incapable of doing anything outside of the compound. A lot of 'em can't even go out of the compound. They either got disabilities or the Officer saw their faces. We can't just let up now, though. We gotta fight the little battles, or they'll get us before the revolution starts!" Molly could remember Jason's words vividly.
To Molly, it sounded so stupid yet so logical.
"And what if those kids die?! What about the revolution then?!" Molly's head hung low.
A knock came from her door.
She quickly got herself together. "Who is it?"
"It's Vida."
"Oh, come in." Molly opened the door, revealing a confused Vida. "What's wrong, honey?"
"Um, do you know where everyone is?" Vida asked.
Molly paused. Should she tell her?
"What's wrong?" Vida asked after a few moments of silence.
"They went to get Hendrix. They should be back in a few." Molly tried to smile, only letting out a small, somber one.
"Get him? Where did he go?" Vida grew concerned.
"He's somewhere in the city… I-" Molly was interrupted.
"Why would he leave?! Was he planning on leaving?!" Vida bombarded Molly with more questions.
"I don't know, Vida!" Molly yelled. Her face immediately turned from frustration back into confusion and guilt.
Vida looked at Molly for an agonizing few silent moments.
"Why didn't anyone tell me…? Why aren't you with them…?" Vida's questions made Molly's frustration turn back into concern.
"Vida–" Molly was interrupted.
"I'm leaving." Vida stomped down the hallway. "He didn't even say goodbye…" Vida muttered to herself as she turned the corner.
Molly covered her face with her hands.
"Sierra, please. Tell me what to do next." Molly muttered to herself.